Tamron has been working through their early zoom lenses for Sony E-mount with new G2 versions. These typically involve more features, beautiful build quality, and often a focus motor upgrade (from the earlier RXD focal motors to the higher powered VXD motors). Tamron’s newest lens doesn’t carry a G2 designation, because, while all of those previous things are true of it, they’ve also expanded the zoom range to make an entirely new zoom lens. I reviewed the predecessor of this lens (the Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 RXD) back in 2020, and concluded that it focused well and had great image quality, but it lacked any features (including a zoom lock) and could use lens based stabilization. Tamron must have agreed, as the new Tamron 50-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD is more feature rich, has a nicer build, has a zoom lock, and has image stabilization as well. It has a ton of other upgrades as well, making this a very attractive and slightly upmarket alternative to the previous lens. It’s also priced a little higher $799 USD, but still offers a very strong value relative to competing lenses. So is it worth buying? Find out in my video review below or by reading my text review here…or just enjoy the photos below.

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Thanks to Tamron USA for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.

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Tamron’s lens names tend to be long and descriptive…but not necessarily clear to the uninitiated. Here’s what all of those letters mean:

• Di III = Designed for mirrorless (in this case, Sony E-mount, though expect a Nikon Z and perhaps even a Fuji X-mount version in the future).
• VC = Vibration Compensation, Tamron’s in lens stabilization system
• VXD = Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive (a linear focus motor)

Here are the standout features of the new lens:

• Expanded zoom range (6x zoom ratio)
• Vibration Compensation
• Custom/function button
• Weather sealed USB-C port for firmware updates and customization through Tamron’s Lens Utility software
• Zoom lock
• 1:2 macro performance at 70mm (0.50x) | also achieves 0.32x magnification at 300mm
• Weather resistance
• High powered VXD focus motor
• Improved image quality

There’s a lot of serious improvements to this design, and while the price tag has grown by $250 over the previous lens, this is a much more premium lens with a lot of serious upgrades. It’s worth noting that Sony’s own 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS lens retails at $1273 (nearly $500 more), so Tamron is still bringing a lot of value to the table.

And this lens is a treat to use. It is relatively compact, handles well, and has gorgeous image quality. That extra 20mm on the wide end makes the lens even more versatile. You can stand in the same spot and frame like this at 50mm:

…or this at 300mm:

That’s the kind of focal range we can all find useful!

Photos of the Tamron 50-300mm VC VXD

Images taken with the Tamron 50-300mm VC

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GEAR USED:

Purchase the Tamron 50-300mm VC VXD @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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Purchase the Sony a7RV @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Sony Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

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Purchase the Sony a7IV @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Sony Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

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Purchase the Sony Alpha 1 @ Camera Canada | B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Sony Canada | Amazon Canada |  Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

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